Abstract:ALS is a disease in which the causes are unknown and the effects are devastating. Along with great physiological damage there is great mental damage that a patient that had ALS must endure. A disease with a great influence in today's life and the life of those in the past. There is no cure for ALS only treatments. Treatments that treat the symptoms and not the disease.

ALS is a disease that has impacted today's society of individuals in a dramatic and influential way. Not necessarily in a good way, but never the less influential. Throughout recent history the disease has cause heartbreak and hardship, and also a new era of research and paranoia. "Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease, is a progressive neuromuscular disease." This is how ALS is defined by the Robert Packard Center for ALS Research at John's Hopkins University (The Robert Packard Center for ALS Research at Johns Hopkins 2005). Through devastating physiological and psychological effects, this disease has raised awareness and an effort to alleviate the effects previously mentioned. In this paper, I hope to raise awareness to the reader about the history of this disease, the causes and treatments, and also the many effects this disease actually entails.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a disease that is characterized by the slow degeneration of motor neurons, which leads to the weakening of the respiratory system, and eventually death. Its first clinical description was made in 1860, in Europe by the French neurologist Jean Martin Charcot (Clem 2004). ALS received its medical name in 1874 from Charcot. Charcot had observed the wasting away of a patient's muscles (known medically as amyotrophy) and the scarring and hardening, or sclerosis, of the bundles of motor neurons running down each side (laterally) through the spinal cord ("Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis" 2004). This is why the disease is named for him in Europe, however in the United...

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...Education
AmyotrophicLateralSclerosis
7/15/2013
AmyotrophicLateralSclerosis (ALS) is a terminal disease, also known as Motor Neurons Disease, Charchot Disease and Lou Gehrig disease. ALS destroys the Central Nervous System (CNS) and causes damage to the upper and lower motor neurons in the brain. Signs and symptoms are characterized as: muscles weakness, muscle atrophy, twitching and reduced muscle reflexes. Eventually the patient will become paralyzed and rely on a tracheostomy and ventilator for breathing (ALS Association [ALSA], 2010).
With ALS, this disease process only last three to five years after being diagnosed, but patients with medical management have been living longer (ALSA, 2010).
ALS is a disease that can effect anyone. ALSA(2011) stated,” Based on U.S. Population studies,a little over 5,600 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with ALS each year (That's fifteen new cases a day). It is estimated that as many as 30,000 Americans have the disease at any given time. According to the ALS CARE Database, 60% of the people with ALS in the Database are men and 93%
of patients in the Database are Caucasian (ALSA, 2011).
The first signs and symptoms of ALS depend on what muscle in the body is being affected. Most immediate symptoms include...

...﻿Amyotrophiclateralsclerosis
Basic description:
Amyotrophiclateralsclerosis, or ALS, is a disease of the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord that control voluntary muscle movement.
ALS is also known as Lou Gehrig's disease or motor neurone disease in some British Commonwealth countries. It is a debilitating disease with rapidly progressive weakness, breaking down of the muscles, muscle spasticity, difficulty speaking, difficulty swallowing, and decline in breathing ability. ALS is the most common of the five motor neuron diseases.
Symptoms:
Weakened muscles
Loss of voluntary control
Difficulty speaking
Difficulty swallowing
Muscle twitching, cramping or stiffness
Slurred, nasal or quiet speech
Overactive gag reflex
Pseudobulbar affect – uncontrollable laughter, crying or smiling.
Causes:
In 95% of cases no family history of the disease is present. There is no known cause for ALS. Potential causes include head trauma, military service, chemical exposure, electromagnetic field exposure, occupation, physical trauma, electric shock and participation in contact sports. In 5% of cases it is hereditary. There are at least 3 different inheritance patterns for familial ALS. The most common inheritance being autosomal dominant. Autosomal means that either female or male could inherit the...

...AmyotrophicLateralSclerosis
James Smith
University of Southern Mississippi
Dr. Jennifer Walker
BSC 370 Genetics, Spring 2010
Imagine being not able to move your muscles freely everyday, and that process has to coordinate between the brain and the spinal cord to tell the muscles to move. However, when this coordination is challenged and can not convey signals, the results are no muscle movement. At first, muscles in the hands, arms, and legs feel weak. The hands and feet twitch. Speaking and eventually breathing become difficult, and paralysis occurs in the final stages, although thinking and other cognitive functions remain intact. Death usually occurs within five years of the onset of symptoms. This rare, progressive disorder is also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, after a famous baseball player whose life was cut short by it. What is AmyotrophicLateralSclerosis?
Nowadays, more and more persons are being detected with a condition that is signified as “AmyotrophicLateralSclerosis”. In the history, this neurological situation was signified by several as “Lou Gehrig’s disorder” (Hohnsbeen, 2008). Those that suffer from this medical condition endure great complexities. This is essentially because of the fact that the disorder quickly wages war against some nerve cells in the body. These cells are recognized as...

...AmyotrophicLateralSclerosis - Muscular Atrophy: An Annotated Bibliography
Abramovitz, Melissa. "Lou Gehrig's Disease" p17-61. Treatment for ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease has found that Vitamin E and the drug known as Riluzole can help the progression of the disease. When taking the medication Riluzole it has shown to prolong survival in patients by two to three months and it has also delayed the use for breathing support. There is a few side effects to taking Riluzole, such as headache, dizziness, fatigue, and it has also shown that it can do damage to your liver and kidney's. There is no cure for ALS, but researchers are trying to find out what actually causes this disease and how they can cure it.
Aebisher, Patrick. "Playing Defense against Lou Gehrig's Disease" Scientific American, Nov2007: p86-93. Lou Gehrig's Disease which is a progressive neuromuscular disorder, which attacks nerve cells that lead from the brain and the spinal cord to muscles throughout the body. When motor neurons die, the brain can no longer control muscle movements; in the later stages of the disease, the patients become totally paralyzed. About 5000 people in the United States are diagnosed with ALS every year. It typically develops between ages 40 and 70, but it is known to strike younger and older patients as well. An unusual cluster of patients with the disorder are among those are veterans of the...

...the genetic sequence.
There are many different types of genetic disorders. A few of them are: Angleman syndrome, Hemophilia, Sickle-cell disease, Neurofibromatosis, Cri du chat, and Down syndrome. People are born with these diseases and have to face many challenges every day to live with these genetic mutations. This essay is going to specifically cover one genetic disorder called Amyotrophiclateralsclerosis.
Amyotrophiclateralsclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a genetic disorder that occurs in the nervous system. Each word in ALS briefly describes what the disorder is. Amyotrophic has two parts to it. The prefix “amyo” means muscular atrophy. Atrophy means to waste away, typically due to the degeneration of cells. The suffix “trophic” means that it is relating to feeding and nutrition. So to sum it up, amyotrophic means that the muscles have lost their nourishment. Lateral usually means the side of something. In this case, it means that the mutation is affecting the sides of the spine. The sides of the spine are where the nerves that nourish the muscles can be found. Sclerosis is the abnormal hardening of body tissue. In this case its referring to how the mutated part of the spinal cord develops hardened or scarred tissue, in place of healthy nerves.
The mutation damages nerve cells in the...

...ALSAmyotrophicLateralSclerosis
Lou Gehrig's Disease
By Audrea Emmons
Pathophysiology
• Amyotrophiclateralsclerosis (ALS), often referred to as "Lou
Gehrig's Disease," is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that
affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. Motor neurons
reach from the brain to the spinal cord and from the spinal cord to
the muscles throughout the body. The progressive degeneration of
the motor neurons in ALS eventually leads to their death. When the
motor neurons die, the ability of the brain to initiate and control
muscle movement is lost. With voluntary muscle action
progressively affected, patients in the later stages of the disease
may become totally paralyzed.
Prognosis
• To date, there is no one test or procedure to ultimately establish the diagnosis of ALS. It is
through a clinical examination and series of diagnostic tests, often ruling out other diseases
that mimic ALS.
• electrodiagnostic tests including electomyography (EMG) and nerve conduction velocity (NCV)
• blood and urine studies including high resolution serum protein electrophoresis, thyroid and
parathyroid hormone levels and 24-hour urine collection for heavy metals
•
•
•
•
•
spinal tap
x-rays, including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
myelogram of cervical spine
muscle and/or nerve biopsy
thorough neurological...

...﻿ Audrey Rankin
EN101
Professor Fausti
10/6/14
ALS Helpful or Hurtful
The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge went viral on social networks, but is it too successful for its own good? ALS (Amyotrophiclateralsclerosis) often referred to as “Lou Gehrigs Disease,” is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord (ALS Association). It’s like Parkinson’s on super-steroids. Now, the challenge aspect was a simple dare. You had 24 hours to drench yourself in a bucket of ice water, and if you didn’t complete the dare in 24 hours you had to donate $100 to the research. To keep the cycle going you had to dare others before completing yours ( ).
It all started with a patient named Peter Frates diagnosed with ALS in Boston. Then it totally went viral within weeks from everyday locals, to professional athletes, and then to national and international celebrities. LeBron James, who was previously a Heat player in the NBA at the time accepted the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge from the deck of a yacht in Greece (Forbes). Having many celebrities including Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, and Justin Bieber helped raise donations more than $15 million. It took over mainly on the social network of Instagram, an online mobile photo and video social networking service that branch out to Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Flickr.
I...

...122
February 28 2013
AmyotrophicLateralSclerosis:
The Breakthrough
Amyotrophiclateralsclerosis (ALS), otherwise known as Lou Gehrig’s, slowly terminates motor neutrons in the brain and spinal cord. Motor neurons are an important part of the body’s neuromuscular system; the neuromuscular system is what aids our body’s movement. It is made up of the brain, muscles, and nerves. Upper motor neurons send messages from the brain to the spinal cord, while the lower motor neurons send messages from the spinal cord to our muscles. Over time the disease causes these motor neurons in the brain and spinal cord to shrink, and finally disappear, meaning muscles no longer receive signals to move. Progressively the body becomes paralyzed, leaving the muscles no longer functioning. Patients become trapped in their own bodies. ALS is still unpreventable and incurable today. According to The ALS Association, 15 people are diagnosed with ALS every day, more than 5,600 people a year. Annually, ALS kills two per 100,000 people. The average life expediency of a person with ALS is two to five years from time diagnosis. With its low life expediency this disease is a certain death. Although we have not discovered a way in preventing ALS, with new breakthroughs and medical advancements in understanding...